Conspicuous Consumption of Luxury Goods: A Research Review

This research review focuses on the concept of conspicuous consumption of luxury goods. It includes a review of articles discussing factors influencing consumer purchase intention and the role of dressing code in society. Common themes and future research directions are also explored.

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Business Research Methods
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List of reviewed articles
Provide reference for each academic article (formatted using
the Harvard Referencing Style. Check here for the format and
examples: https://libraryguides.vu.edu.au/harvard )
Conceptual article
(proposed theory) Veblen, T. 2009, The Theory of the Leisure Class, The Floating
Press, Waiheke Island
This article will focus on leisure issues based on purchase
power of the luxury goods.
Quantitative article
Yang, J. Ma, J. Arnold, M. & Nuttavuthisit, K. 2018, ‘Global
Identity, Perception of luxury value and consumer
purchase intention: a cross – cultural examinatio’,
Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol.35 Iss .5 pp.533-
542.
This article will reflect the global identity in connection to
perception towards intention of the consumer to

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purchase luxury goods.
Qualitative article
Golubeva, J. Koris, R. & Kerem, K. 2018, ‘The Dress I Wear
Says More Than a Thousand Words: Conspicuous
Choice of Garment Among Estonian Elite’, Journal of
Management and Change, Vol.36/37 pp.78-98
The article is based on dressing cold behavior of people based
on their wealth status in the society.
Mixed method
article Farrag, D. A. 2017, ‘The Young Luxury Consumer in Qatar’,
Young Consumers, Vol. 18 Iss.4 pp.393-407
It concentrates on Qatar consumption potential of consumers
on luxury goods.

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1. Brief summary of the theory & discussion of progression in the field
The summary focuses on conspicuous consumption of luxury goods by the consumers.
Veblen (2009, p.6) discussion of the leisure class analysis is related to everyday experiences in
class work activities. He examines various habits, characteristics and behaviors of people in the
Bararian community on the issues related to leisure. Yang, Ma, Arnold & Nuttavuthisit (2018,
p.533) gives an analysis of various factors that determines the purchasing power of the luxury
goods by consumers. He concluded that global identity has a great impact on drawing the
attention of the customers to purchase luxury products. In addition, Farrag (2017. p.393) has has
concluded that involvement of the fashion, comparison of the social media and brand
consciousness attracts the customers to purchase luxury products. Golubeva, Koris & Kerem
(2018, p.78) examined that dressing code determines the purchasing power of the customers.
2. Discussion of common themes across all the four articles
Golubeva et al. (2018, p.78) search on purchasing power of customers on luxury goods is
common to that of Veblen (2009, p.6). They both involves consumption pattern of the high-class
ranked individuals in the society. It explains the tendency of people to purchase the luxurious
goods as a show off for their financial well being. All the four articles are commonly reflects on
high ranked individuals who show high prestige through the purchase of high expensive luxury
goods. This is meant to show their high superiority than other people in society.

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Yang et al. (2018, p. 539) and Farrag (2017, p. 400) common theme is based buying
expensive clothes and luxury goods as sighs of high level of wealth in society. The common
themes indicate that the choice of clothes is a better way of communicating the wealth, social
standards and dominance of various groups of people within the community. Yang et al. (2018,
p. 540) common theme relates with the scholars themes by the fact that the choice of fashion
within the society determines the social class of people living in that society. It also determines
the ranks of people within the society in terms of financial stability. The attitudes towards the
level of conspicuous do not depend on factors related to the test and preferences of luxury goods
by the consumers. It is determined by the conspicuous test of the individuals. The theme is in
line with the factors which influence the purchase of the luxurious good within the community.
3. Discussion of different themes across all the four articles
Apart from the common themes identified in the four articles, there are also different
themes discussed. According to Veblen (2009, p.6), his theme depicts level of consumption of
luxury as a better display for the social status of individuals. It shows the prestige of people
within the community. People who show high capacity in the purchase of the luxury goods are
ranked as well established within the society. Golubeva et al. (2018, p.78) has a different point of
view that garments shows the status of the community wealth status. He has gone ahead to show
the traditional perception on values related to luxury products. This is discussed by individual
authors. It is identification of the global identity that brings about attraction of the customers’
attention towards purchasing of the luxury goods. The truth about the four articles is that there
are no major differences between the themes discussed. They are all almost focusing on the same
idea. They reflect almost on the same theme according to the society ranking of people.
Considering various themes shown by various articles, it can be concluded that most of the

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articles are connected by similar idea that individuals’ perception on social values is the key
attribute of the consumption capacity individuals’ purchase of luxury goods.
4. Discussion of study limitations & how these limitations differ across the various
research designs (e.g. quantitative, qualitative, mixed)
In this discuss, Golubeva et al. (2018, p.81) states that the limitation of the study is by
choice of the dressing code. The dressing depends on the event held within the society and the
activity associated. It is considered as major limitation because it causes inconveniences when
customers are not interested with only type of dressing sold in the market. The issues of bias are
also major threats considering that various groups of people in social events will have self-
perception about a certain dressing code. The dressing issues have led to the deviation of the
study to qualitative findings research. For the convenience purpose, Yang et al. (2018, p.537)
has used quantitative research. For the purpose of generalizing the results of the study, mixed
method has been applied too. Farrag (2017, p.393) used the mixed research method to study the
Qatari people social ranking within their community. The limitation when using mixed research
method is that the results could be more comprehensive due to inclusion of the variables. This
influenced negatively on attitudes towards consumption of the luxurious goods by the customers.
5. Discussion of future research directions proposed in the articles (commonalities &
differences)
The article by Veblen on the topic “The theory of the leisure class” discusses future
research by the introduction of the concept of conspicuous consumption of luxury goods. It
reflects mostly on issues related to the social goals on attracting others towards the purchase of
the luxury good. In addition, the proposed concept basically influences people towards the
display of their power and wealth within the society. According to Golubeva et al. (2018, p.84),

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future researches should be concentrating on the exploration of the dressing codes and the
conspicuous consumption of luxury goods. Moreover, Yang et al. (2018, p.538) gives a
suggestion that there should be more researches on opportunities in the examination of the
effects of consumers’ level of identity. This is especially based on how they display the intention
to purchase luxury goods. Lastly, Farrag (2017. p.401) suggests that the development of the
typology in Qatari luxury goods consumers will help the owners of the brand to implement better
marketing strategies. It will also be a significant factor in carrying out any of the other future
studies regarding social media. It influences customers’ conspicuous consumption rate of luxury
goods.

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References
Farrag, D. A. 2017, ‘The Young Luxury Consumer in Qatar’, Young Consumers, Vol. 18 Iss.4
pp.393-407. Retrieved from; https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/YC-06-2017-00702
Golubeva, J. Koris, R. & Kerem, K. 2018, ‘The Dress I Wear Says More Than a Thousand
Words: Conspicuous Choice of Garment Among Estonian Elite’, Journal of Management and
Change, Vol.36/37 pp.78-98. Retrieved from;
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Barbara_Mazur3/publication/326295204_Humanistic_and_econ
omic_management__the_case_of_the_cooperatives_of_the_disabled_in_Poland/links/
5b4492cda6fdcc6619145fc1/Humanistic-and-economic-management-the-case-of-the-cooperatives-of-
the-disabled-in-Poland.pdf#page=78
Veblen, T. 2009, The Theory of the Leisure Class, The Floating Press, Waiheke Island. Retrieved
from; https://econpapers.repec.org/bookchap/oxpobooks/9780199552580.htm
Yang, J. Ma, J. Arnold, M. & Nuttavuthisit, K. 2018, ‘Global Identity, Perception of luxury
value and consumer purchase intention: a cross-cultural examination’, Journal of Consumer
Marketing,Vol.35Iss.5pp.533-542.Retrievedfrom
https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/JCM-02-2017-2081